Ethical Porn Director Resolves to Go Vegan in 2018

Erika Lust says goodbye to carnism to stay true to her feminist beliefs.

Sweden-born feminist Erika Lust—known for her work in creating erotic films that are respectful of, and appealing to, all genders—announced this week her transition to veganism in 2018. In a blog post entitled “Goodbye Carnism,” Lust explains that her decision to eschew animal products cruxes on being true to her ethical beliefs. “I grew up with one idea of the world,” Lust said, “and now I’ve realized that I was wrong. I thought that I had no choice but to eat animals, that I needed the protein, that it was [okay] to kill animals, that I was a strong and healthy viking meat lover.” Lust explained that she posted a photo of her holding meat to social media last year and, upon reading comments such as “a plate of dead animals [is] not sexy at all,” realized she needed to make a change. “I think that being respectful towards animals and nature goes hand in hand with many of my main beliefs,” Lust said, “especially when it comes to feminism. I can’t believe that it took so long for me to awaken.” The film director also revealed that many adult industry performers with whom she has recently worked are advocating a plant-based diet, asked readers to consider joining the Veganuary campaign, and shared two inspiring vegan videos—a TED Talk by vegan social psychologist Melanie Joy (a proponent of understanding meat-eating through the lens of social indoctrination, or “carnism”) and the trailer for influential vegan documentary What the Health.